Last week, the Sarasota County elections office sent 2,405 vote-by-mail ballots for the Nov. 3 general election to active-duty military personnel and their spouses and dependents, who are absent from Sarasota County, and overseas U.S. citizens. The number includes 1,233 through the U.S. Postal Service and 1,172 via electronic mail, Sarasota County supervisor of elections Ron Turner said.

Another 132,796 ballots are scheduled for mailing to domestic voters beginning Sept. 24.  Following these initial mailings, requests for vote-by-mail ballots will be processed and ballots mailed daily. A request for a ballot to be mailed to a voter must be received by the elections office by 5 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 24 to allow enough time for the ballot to reach the voter and be returned to the elections office in time to be counted.

Ballots must be received in the elections office by 7 p.m. on election night (Nov. 3) to be counted. The signature on the voter’s certificate on the vote-by-mail ballot return envelope should match the signature on file with the supervisor of elections office. Voters may update their signatures by submitting a Florida Voter Registration Application to the elections office.